Eddie Seal/Special to the Caller-Times

Wheat walls in the formal sitting room contrast smoothly with the sage colored walls in the living room. Black and red details add drama to the spaces.

By Diane S. Morales, Caller-Times

September 24, 2006

Eddie Seal/Special to the Caller-Times

Patricia Cox said she spends a lot of time reading in the sitting room near the home’s entrance. The home’s size doesn’t intimidate her because muted natural wall colors, romantic accessories and art keep the size comfortable.

PHOTO GALLERY

Patricia Cox had three weeks to plan her daughter’s wedding at her home. She rallied her friends and family to coordinate food, drinks and decorations for the backyard nuptials beneath an arbor.

The details Address: 3361 Manitou St. Price: $695,000 Square feet: 4,200 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5 Built: 2003 Information: Jacob Sudhoff, Sudhoff Properties, 994-0649

Mosquitoes and impending rain threatened to spoil the day, instead a steady breeze blew the bugs away. I do’s were done and 75 guests later, the wedding was a hit.

Friends and family also helped Cox survive the reconstruction of her home throughout the past three years, lending a hand with painting or just lending an ear to hear Cox’s frustrations about the project.

“In every room there’s a piece of somebody special to me that has helped,” she said. “This home is a labor of love. That’s what it is. . . it’s like they lived through it.”

Cox was the contractor for the home’s reconstruction, which was demolished to the subfloor. She used a computer program to redesign the home’s layout and an upstairs addition, then had an architect and engineer review the plans.

With an eye and passion for color and decorating, Cox dived into painting walls, staining cabinets and learning how to install faux wood floors.

Eddie Seal/Special to the Caller-Times

Gold wall color accents the sage green scene in the kitchen. The fireplace opposite the gold-colored wall is the same color. Custom cabinets line the wall next to the island for plenty of storage and display space.

“Whatever I had time to do, I did it,” she said. “Anything I felt I could accomplish without hiring someone to fix it, I did.”

From a khaki exterior to muted earth tones inside, Cox’s home is a clean-lined, modern composition mixed with mid-century modern décor, traditional antiques and bargain finds wrapped in what she calls comfort and romance.

Wheat-colored walls warm a sitting room at the home’s entrance. The shade changes throughout the day’s light, which peeks through rectangular windows high on a wall opposing the furniture.

A black and white tweed sofa with metal pencil legs shares the 1950s décor with two black boxy armchairs. Red pillows and a red area rug add drama to the space.

A two-sided fireplace divides the kitchen, living room and bar, leaving both spaces wide open and accessible on both sides of the fireplace.

Guests from the wedding flowed easily around the rooms and the patio accessible through the kitchen. Large picture windows in the kitchen bring in nature to the orderly room. Cox avoided clutter in the kitchen by streamlining with stainless steel counters and building appliance stations tucked in the reddish stained cabinets. A large island in the center offers more sitting space next to the dining table.

Eddie Seal/Special to the Caller-Times

A black wrought iron bed from The Bombay Company is adorned with tan velvet bedding. The rectangular window near the bed frames tree branches outside.

Easy entertaining

On the other side of the fireplace, sage green wall color is interjected with black framed colorful art, a red sofa and red barstools.

“People plant themselves here when I entertain,” Cox said, referring to the bar. A screened-in porch takes guests from the living room to a view of the front yard.

Another sitting room and a burnt orange wall colored bath extend from the living room. Cox repeated the orange color in the master suite where a sliding glass door opens to the backyard and a window overlooks the patio and back into the house.

Eddie Seal/Special to the Caller-Times

Cox created his-and-her master baths each sporting colorful Italian glass mosaic tile. The whirlpool tub is reserved for one of the baths.

“I love it here because I can see the tree-house in the back, the patio, I have my fireplace here and I leave the light on above the fireplace inside so I can see it,” Cox said.

The walls tone down to a terra cotta shade in one of the master baths — Cox created separate his/hers baths each with vibrant blue tile work.

Cox had an antique sideboard converted to fit a porcelain rectangular sink. In the his master bath, light gray walls paired with a blue accent wall color complement a blond wood sink cabinet.

Cosmopolitan style

Tan carpeted stairs speckled with color leads to two guest bedrooms and what Cox calls a New York-style loft.

The loft is an open space with a balcony overlooking the front yard. Terra cotta wall color cozies up the area, while wheat-colored walls cover the other two bedrooms. Cox’s girlfriends often retreat to the loft for girl-talk over a glass of wine or hang out on the balcony.

Whether it’s entertaining a house full or just a few friends, Cox’s home has been a labor of love.

“I’m going to miss everything, but I’ll have my memories,” she said.

Contact Diane S. Morales at 886-3758 or moralesd@caller.